Books blog + Michael Clark | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog+stage/michael-clark
model.DotcomContentType$TagIndex$@40f58a88en-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018Thu, 22 Feb 2018 07:31:58 GMT2018-02-22T07:31:58Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Against 'good reads'https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2012/oct/24/against-good-reads
The passive value attached to straightforward storytelling obscures the wider possibilities of more adventurous writing<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/oct/18/michael-clark-company-review" title="">Michael Clark's latest dance presentation at the Barbican</a> is a visceral reminder of what art can do. Make us gasp. Wonder. Cheer. Feel terrified and exhilarated and stupid and clever – all at once. From the second the lights in the theatre go down and a body is slowly lowered by wire from the heights of the ceiling to the stage far below, we are in a world where anything can happen. Then the dancer's feet touch the surface of the stage and "anything" does.</p><p>Why can't reading be like this? Or rather, where can we find the conversation about reading being like this? A lot of us got pretty excited about the idea of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2012/sep/11/man-booker-prize-2012-shortlist" title="">this year's Booker shortlist</a>. A lot of us thought, maybe now the conversation about the novel-as-art-form might get properly started up in this country. After all, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2008/07/22/james_wood/" title="">James Wood has got it started in America</a>. And France and Europe have been talking about it for years. Yet in Britain we're still locked into the same cycle of fixed terms and definitions we've had since Dickens. The terrible rigor mortis of the phrase that is "a good read".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2012/oct/24/against-good-reads">Continue reading...</a>FictionBooksCultureHilary MantelMichael ClarkDanceWed, 24 Oct 2012 11:14:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2012/oct/24/against-good-readsPhotograph: Jeff J Mitchell/GettyTurning expectations upside down ... Dancers from the Michael Clark Company performing. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/GettyPhotograph: Jeff J Mitchell/GettyTurning expectations upside down ... Dancers from the Michael Clark Company performing. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/GettyKirsty Gunn2012-10-24T11:14:28Z